The first-ever New Jersey Manufacturing Week to be held Oct. 22-26, 2012, includes a variety of scheduled activities throughout the state for manufacturers, students, educators, policy makers and the media. Co-sponsored by New Jersey Manufacturing Extension Program, Inc. (NJMEP), a not-for-profit organization, and ManufactureNJ (MNJ), the Advanced Manufacturing Talent Network (MNJ) of the N.J. Department of Labor and Workforce Development, this inaugural event will focus state-wide attention on manufacturing in New Jersey as a core industry sector, a source of jobs and economic prosperity for the state.

Overseen by NJIT’s Division of Continuing Professional Education and funded by NJ Department of Labor Workforce Development, MNJ is one of several New Jersey Talent Networks each of whose focus is on the specific needs of other key industries including: financial services; health care; transportation, logistics and distribution; life sciences; hospitality and retail; and technology and entrepreneurship. Each of these connect employers, job seekers, the state’s One Stop Career Centers and educational institutions to achieve the common goal of helping current job seekers develop relevant skills that lead to job opportunities, helping employers find qualified employees, and to ensure that New Jerseyans have access to training and educational opportunities that lead to the jobs of the future.

In particular the goals of the event are to:

• Build awareness about advanced manufacturing in the state

• Help companies and students learn about regional assets including education/training opportunities, career paths, and jobs

• Help communities to connect directly with their economic drivers in this sector.

New Jersey’s supply chain is largely comprised of small- and mid-sized enterprises (SMEs), and in particular is fueled by the strength of the range of 17,000 state-wide manufacturers. These manufacturing companies urgently need entry-level workers, production workers, and fast learners. They also need seasoned engineers and a wealth of other workers in quality, health/safety, sales, procurement, and management.

Meredith Aronson, Director of the Advanced Manufacturing Talent Network explains, “ManufactureNJ Week is an opportunity to shine the light on our state’s manufacturers and on manufacturing careers. Our intention is to make New Jersey’s manufacturers accessible, to demonstrate the international reach and technical sophistication of today’s manufacturing and to connect workers and students seeking careers with this exciting, opportunity-filled sector.”

With the exception of one invitation-only roundtable, all activities are open to the public with prior registration.

To sign up for the kick-off event or any of the four regional site tours, please visit www.manufacturenj.org/events. If you are a NJ manufacturer or educator who is interested in participating, please contact: Dr. Meredith Aronson, Director, Advanced Manufacturing Talent Network 973.596.3065 and 800.624.9850; email: aronson@njit.edu.

ManufactureNJ, the Advanced Manufacturing Talent Network works to stabilize and develop a skilled manufacturing workforce, to ensure that New Jersey manufacturers can compete effectively and succeed today and into the future.

NJMEP is a member of the Manufacturing Extension Partnership Program (MEP), a network of centers throughout the U.S. The centers are part of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), an agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce. The MEPs were created to help small and mid-sized companies improve their competitive position in the market by focusing on five critical profitable growth areas: continuous improvement, technology acceleration, supplier development, sustainability and workforce development. To learn more about NJMEP visit njmep.org.

One of the nation's leading public technological universities, New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) is a top-tier research university that prepares students to become leaders in the technology-dependent economy of the 21st century. NJIT's multidisciplinary curriculum and computing-intensive approach to education provide technological proficiency, business acumen and leadership skills. With an enrollment of more than 10,000 graduate and undergraduate students, NJIT offers small-campus intimacy with the resources of a major public research university. NJIT is a global leader in such fields as solar research, nanotechnology, resilient design, tissue engineering, and cyber-security, in addition to others. NJIT ranks 5th among U.S. polytechnic universities in research expenditures, topping $110 million, and is among the top 1 percent of public colleges and universities in return on educational investment, according to PayScale.com.